Slow Cooker Beef Stew

As the temps drop, one of my favorite things about fall cooking is the heartiness of the foods I crave. Once we hit the official start of fall, I told Ben, "that's it; it's time to make beef stew!". I've been making it since college. An easy, but filling meal with a decent amount of vegetables; it's a fall fav!

Ingredients:

(Makes 6+ servings)

• 1+ lb of stew beef
• 2 Russet potatoes
• 2 medium sized yellow onions
• 6 carrots
• 6 pieces of celery
• Dash of pepper
• 3 vegetable bullion cubes (beef would work too)
• 1 tsp parsley
• 1 tsp rosemary
• 2 bay leafs
• 8 cups water
• 1 Tbsp cornstarch
• 2 Tbsp cool warm

Note: I like my beef stew as more of a beef soup. You can reduce the amount of water to 6 cups if you want a less brothy soup.

The beauty of this meal is that you can prep everything the night ahead of time and just toss it in the slow cooker in the morning! I'm writing the directions as such.

 

Directions:

• Chop vegetables (onions, carrots, celery and potatoes), into bite size pieces, approximately 1" thick
• If prepping the night before cooking: place veggies in bowl, cover, and store in fridge







• Cut beef into 1" cubes
• Season lightly with pepper
• Over medium heat, saute in olive oil (or cooking spray), just enough to sear the sides (this will seal in its juices and help your meat from drying out)

• If prepping the night before; put meat in container and store in fridge
• When you're ready to cook; place veggies and meat in slow cooker. Stir to combine.
• In a large bowl, measure out warm water and dissolve bullion cubes (if they don't dissolve; use spoon to crush as much as possible)
• Pour over items in slow cooker
• Add parsley, rosemary and bay leafs
• Cook on low for approximately 8 hours

• After cooking; if the consistency is too brothy; in a small bowl, combine corn starch and cool water
• Mix into slow cooker and cook approximately 30 minutes to let thicken

• After all of the above, ladle into a bowl and enjoy!

Linking up with Let's Get Bananas and Blissfully Miller for Taste of Tuesday